Commercial Airport 'Plastic Ball Bird Deterrent'
Case Study

San Francisco Airport
Montreal Airport
Cincinnati Airport


F O D - Foreign Object Damage costs the airline industry millions of US$ each year - objects on the ground can burst tires and bird strikes in the air damage engines, wings and fuselage. This combined with the significant risk to human life make FOD a serious issue.

Waterfowl such as large Canadian Geese are a major problem for airport safety managers as they are attracted to the local environment surrounding an airfield - open fresh water ponds, long grass for nesting and few predators. In flight, they cross an aircraft's path at the most critical flight phase - take off and landing.

Water collection or storage ponds are constructed near to runways for many reasons. They have typically been netted in the past to prevent birds from gaining access to the water. The problem is that netting does not camouflage the water and therefore still attracts waterfowl.

A simple solution to the problem has been developed by ECC - the water surface is camouflaged by a layer of floating hollow plastic balls.

This concept has been very successful with gold mines in the USA, Africa and Australia. In order to camouflage the collection ponds, which contain dilute cyanide solution, a layer of ECC Floating Ball Covers on the liquid surface - birds simply do not recognize the ponds.

Floating Ball Covers have been operating since 1993, although ECC has been making balls for over 40 years.

ECC Floating Ball Covers are 100mm diameter balls; UV stabilized black HDPE material with an anticipated life expectancy in excess of 10 years.

Benefits include:

• Simple to install
• Maintenance free
• Proven track record
• Accommodates changes in liquid level, floating platforms and aerators.
• FAA's "Wildlife Hazard Management At Airports" manual states that of ponds with BirdBalls.com will completely exclude birds."
• Transport Canada Bulletin no. 25 states that "The balls hide the water from the birds and as a result they don't see the ponds...the balls (Floating Ball Covers) adjust to changing water levels, are easy to install and survive winter conditions. "